


A Side’s Best Friend

by patchworkofstars



Category: Sanders Sides, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 05:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchworkofstars/pseuds/patchworkofstars
Summary: Virgil is feeling depressed. Maybe an adorable dog can help?





	A Side’s Best Friend

He fought the tears for as long as he could.

He fought them until he realised the futility of fighting what was merely a physical response to the tide of despair rising within him. Then he let them run down his cheeks, and when their tickle on his face annoyed him, he wiped them across to the sides not caring how damp his face became.

Drawing his knees up to his chin, he wrapped his arms around them in a crushing embrace, burying his face in the fabric of his ripped jeans and letting it muffle the sobs that wrenched through his body.

Did he stay like that for two minutes? Ten? Time had lost all meaning for him when the sea of anguish had flooded his always-fragile psyche. In any case, he stayed like that until he felt something small and firm pushing repeatedly at his thigh.

He lifted his face from the smothering fabric and turned his head to identify the source of this intrusion. 

Beside him sat a small dog, approximately lap-sized, covered with temptingly fluffy light grey fur. It gazed up at him dolefully with light brown eyes that seemed strangely familiar somehow.

How the hell had a dog got into the mindscape?

Scratch that, it must be Princey’s doing. How it had got into Virgil’s room was anyone’s guess, but…

He couldn’t help but feel a tiny flicker of… Well, not _happiness_ as such, but some emotion that contrasted markedly with his sadness.

The dog pawed at him again, and he stretched his legs out on the floor. It climbed eagerly onto his lap, then rested its paws on his chest and pushed its face up close to his. Its whole body was trembling, and he couldn't help but read the look in its eyes as one of _concern_.

He wrapped his hands around the sides of its body and manoeuvred it back down onto his lap, enabling him to put his arms carefully around it and hug it as firmly as he dared. The trembling subsided but didn't stop. Virgil took a deep breath, blinked away the tears still threatening his eyes, and then buried his face in its fur. It didn’t smell as much of dog as he’d expected. In fact, the scent reminded him of…

Well, that didn’t make sense, did it?

He lifted his head slowly and relaxed his hold on the dog. It looked up at him, assessing something, and he attempted a smile. His mouth refused to cooperate, but the dog seemed to understand what the slight contortion of his lips meant. It wriggled out of his grasp back onto the floor, and he ruffled the fur on its head. Then it began walking around in small circles on the floor.

On the third turn, a pair of black-framed glasses appeared on its nose.

Oh.

_Oh_.

“Patton?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

The dog yapped at him, and then spun rapidly around on the spot. Before his eyes had time to process the change, the dog had been replaced by Patton crouched on the floor beside him.

This time his attempt at a smile was almost successful.

“Since when can you turn into a dog?” he asked. They both winced slightly at the sound of his voice, hoarse from crying.

“Well, you know we can all shapeshift”, said Patton, as brightly as he could. “Becoming a puppy took a bit more practice, but it was worth it!”

The smile finally broke through onto Virgil’s face, small and lopsided but undeniable. “How did you get in here, anyway?” he asked. “I thought I locked the door.”

Patton waved his hands mysteriously. “Puppy Magic.”

Virgil snorted. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Would you believe Dad Magic?”

“You know what? I don’t even care how you got in. I’m just glad that you did.” He leaned his head against Patton's shoulder and felt arms wrap comfortingly around him.

“What upset you?” his friend asked softly.

“Just life. The universe. Everything.”

“You know there are plenty of good things in the world too, right? Plenty of reasons to keep living.”

Virgil reached out a hand and rested it against the familiar blue polo shirt, feeling his eyes fill with much happier tears. “Yeah”, he said, “I know. There’s you.”


End file.
